Oscillograph-galvanometer



Nov. 6, 1951 L.. A. THOMPSON OSCILLOGRAPH-GALVANOMETER Filed Nov. 23, 1945 5V s A 33 /j/ gm,

Patented Nov. 6, 195i osoILLoGRArH-GALVANOMETER Louis A. Thompson, Rocky River,` Ohioyassignor toNEA-'Ser-vce, Inc.,Cleve1and, Ohio,.a corporationof Delaware Application November 23, 1945, serial No.v 630,404 f 1. Thisinvention relates to irriprovements in oscil- Iograph-galvanometers andm'ore particularly to an oscillograph.-galvanometerl .useful in the transmission of pictures.

Although the inventioniabout tobe :described .will :be described "particularly as 'being' usefuli in the transmission or reception yof pictures'by wire orfra'dio, it will be fappre'ciated thatit 'is in no sense limitedtowsuch use-'but mayfbe used in vother places where an:oscillograph-galvanometer is desiredgand that; theref0re,"it"is not my intention'. that `the `invention shall' belimite'd` to use inthepicture transmission field.

f I-Ieretofore, it'hasf become :common practice toz'useran oscillo'grapn-galvanometer in picture transmission apparatus'forfthe purpose of swinging a@ beam ofzlighteither to cause the beam to be interrupted and'thusrepla'ce 'a chopper or to apply modulatedl .currentl'to the galvanometer to cause the same to' be operated Lthereby'to expose a picture. The 'prior devices'.-havevusually 'been of an extremel'y delicate nature and very apt to be thrown out of adjustment if` subjected to moderate shocks. Furthermore; the construction wasl suchv that a considerable amount'ofspa'ce'was required for its installation, and-this usually in places where space' was at afpr'emium. This'swaspartieularly true in' connectionfwithfits 'use 'in' the optical unit of "a: facsimile Atransmitter 'or' receiver. I

By '-"my i `present invention! I lhave' provided an oscillograph-galvanometer which extremely compact. and. whichthus 'lends itself ideally'y to thexusedwith allied equipment, Such as the optical' unit' of a :ta'czsiniile receiver `or transmitter. Furthermorey'the'operationrof'fthe device is such that a more eilcient result is realized. The device as constructed provides for Aan incr-'casein sensitivityg" requiring lesscurient to operate the same, and it is' possible toprovi'de a much wider swingfthan 'Wasrheretofore' possible in the 'prior art devices. i Generally speaking, the oscillograph-galvanometerof my invention: contemplates" 'a permanntm'agnet; an. electro-magnet and 'a movable vane lupon. whcha vmirror maybe supported, the' variel -ibeingmovablev rupon the .application of a signaly Vor-A energy toi the electro-magnet winding. .In :the accompanying 1 drawings', I 'have illust'rated'air embodimentv of my invention wherein: Fig. 1 is: a: top` planlvielw of ya unit constructed according to my'invention". the device being shown on anenlarged scale of about' two tov one;

Fig.. 2. is a. side elevational'l View thereof.;

a..'fbottomf.plan. view thereof Vs claims.- (cl. 171-95) v the opening.

f Fig. 4 is a view `similar to Fig. A1 with the top plate removed.

Fig. 5 is lan enlarged section taken on 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 isa diagrammatic View illustrating. the action of the device'.

Referring now' tothe drawings, throughout which like parts have been designated b'y like reference characters the device includes 'acasingV l0, whichymay'rbe substantially*square in form; being provided. with. an upwardlyv extending portion! l at one side from which amounting pin` l2 extends'. It will'be.v appreciated, however, that the shape :of the. 'exterior'casing is lmerely a matter of Yconvenience Vin`thisvv case; and thatl it can be made in any .desired form.' y

The casing maybe madeof any non-magnetic materiali andis'provided with a'square opening which extends through the casing'f'romrtop to bottom In this opening there is disposed a per.'- :fnanent` magnet structure I4 which entirely ill-ls The permanent. magnet'may be any of the nickel-cobaltalloys such as-thewell known Alnico and which.whenmagnetizedprovides a heavy an'dpermanent magnetic flux.y The magnet has: antexterior surface which is' square to' conform. to the opening in the casing and is provided with a central circular openingl extending` vertically` therethrough. It' will be .seen that the shapeof vthe magnet lends itself readily to thev grinding operations for shaping and tting itv to the casing,` for; as is wellA known, Alnicof isV extremelyhardf'andbrttle and, in the-ordi'- n'ary sense,l not machineable.

The magnet is magnetized so that it is polarized in avertcal direction;- that is, the. upper end of the .magnet may be a :north pole .and the lowerendasouth pole; It .will be appreciated that the polarization is alsoramatteraof choice, andV it may `be immaterial whichend is northor south.

The electro-magnet portion `of thefdevice includes a bottom Vplate .ll secured `to the -hous'ing I0 by screws I8' andwhich supports the core lami-l nation I9. 'I'he laminations of the electromagnet are U shaped, and the basesA thereof extend tl'iroughy a rectangular openingfin the-bottom plate and are securedttherein by soldering Vor the like as .indicated at 20.` The pole pieces 2l extend. upward from. the base,v in spaced relation to each other andthe vwall of the permanent magnet, the upper endsbeing'slanting as findicated at'22 which concentrates the lux in a small area atr their' extremities.

Thefcoilsio'r polesfzl arefshown at' 23 'being the line disposed around the poles with the ends abutting a piece of insulating material 2A at plate I1. The leads 26 for the coil-s 23 may be taken off from the coils and insulated by spaghetti tubing 21 which extends through appropriate openings in the plate I1 exteriorly of the housing.

The top of the housing is closed by a plate 30 held in place by screws 3|. The plates l1 and 30 holdthe parts in assembled relation and are of ferromagnetic material.

The top plate 3E is provided with a central opening 32, of square formation, disposed opposite the poles 2l and from opposite sides of which are extended narrow elongated open-` ings 33. On the under side of the plate there are provided grooves 34 which extend from the openings in prolongation thereof across or nearly across the remainder of the plate to the edge.

The moving vane includes a wire or rod like member 36, the ends of which lie in the grooves 34 and are secured therein by soldering or the like, and the center portion of which traverses the opening 32 andhas secured thereto the magnetic plate or vane 31. The platemay be secured to the rod by soldering as vindicated .at 38. The wire or rod 36 is preferably of beryllium Vcopper alloy which may be tempered, and has sufficient resiliency that the plate 31 may rotate or swing about the axis of the rod upon the application of suitable magnetic forces thereto by the energization of the Vcoils 23, but always returns to its normal position flush with 'the surface of the plate when the forces are removed.

For the purpose of explanation, it will be assumed that the upper end of the permanent magnet is a north pole and that the lower end is a south pole. It will be seenthat the'entire top plate 30, being ferromagnetic material, is a north pole and that the bottom plate is a south pole. The flux from the bottom plate is conducted to the laminations 2l-22 which extend close to the bottom of the vane 31 which causes the ends 22 to be of south polarity. The edges ofthe vane are disposed in the region of the very high flux between the north and south poles (Fig` 6).

The laminations 2l-22 are preferably of soft silicon iron and therefore the retentivity is low but their magnetic permeability is high.

In one method of operation the coils 23 are connected in opposing relation in such a manner that when they are energized by a current, the poles become oppositely polarized. In such a case it will be seen that this would result in one of the poles 22 being provided with a heavier south flux, which would be in addition to the south flux already present, and the other would be provided with a north flux which would oppose andlessen, if not completely overcome, the south pole flux present.

Because the vane is'surrounded by a north pole ux, and the air gap between the vane and the pole is very small, merely large enough ;to permit freedom of movement of the vane, the vane also participates of this flux and becomes part of the north pole. Then because the vane can move about the axis of the support 3E, due to the resiliency ofthe support, the vane will be repelled on the side where the north pole on the electromagnet exists and attracted on thev side of the strongly south pole. If the current in the electromagnet is reduced, the movement of the vane is reduced accordingly until upon cessation of current the spring torsion in the support 36 will return the Vvaneto its normal position as illustrated in Fig. 6. Upon a reversal tion.

of current through the windings the vane will move in exactly the opposite direction, hence upon the application of an alternating current to the windings, the Vane will oscillate about the support 36 at a frequency dependent upon the frequency of the oscillator and in a magnitude dependent upon the amplitude of the oscilla- Therefore, it will befseen that the vane can and will oscillate following amplitude modulated alternating current which may be in the form of a signal such as that resulting from the scanning of a picture.

One of the difficulties of prior devices was the limitation Vin the amplitude of the swing that could be obtained. I have found that this device may be operated to provide a considerably higher amplitude of oscillations than was heretofore possible. This is particularly useful when the device is usedto provide an interrupted Vsource of :light for scanning a picture such as spring member 36, which may be beryllium cop` per alloy; and that this member *isr supported in the `grooves 34, and extends longitudinally of the narrow channels 33 vwhich open into the central opening 32. The Vane can be tuned to the desired frequency by adding solder at the ends of the support 33 inthe slot 33 to effectively shorten its length. This is preferably done while applying av current of the desired frequency to the coils 23 and observing the amplitude of the swing by means of a stroboscope. In this manner solder is added or removed until the rlargest or desired amplitude is attained.

Another manner of operation .which I have found to be particularly effective is based'V upon the fact that it may be desirable to set the device Ato operateV at a slightly 'different resonant point `than the operating frequency of the associated circuit so that as the apparatus heats up to the operating temperature, the increase in heat after a certain period will cause the device to ybe operating at the desired frequency; that is, when cold, it may operate at one frequency and when warm, at another. Hence, the natural resonant frequency will change. Therefore, if the resonant frequency when cold is high as the device comes up in temperature due toroperaf tion and heating of the ambient vair surrounding it, the frequency will drop to the desired frequency.

Another mode of operation contemplates so adjusting resonant frequency by applying solder tothe ends of the support so that 'it is either higher or lower than the operating frequency. This makes it possible to apply a signal' the carrierv frequency of which may be higher or lower than the resonant frequency. of the vane and thus cause the vane swing tofmore correctly follow amplitude variations when a pictureV signal, whichv maybe an amplitude modulated alternating signal, is applied thereto. That is, as previously stated, if the vane is tuned to a certain resonant frequency by applying the solder as indicated, then, if a signal is applied, the carrier of which departs from the tuned frequency of the vane, it will 'have'less amplitude. VAs the carrier is changed.Y upon approach to. the resonant frequency of the vane, the amplitude of movement ocfthezrvane will increase, 'Ihe-,ffresponsencurve lfo'xtrtheg. wane; avilixthen; .be of" the .order of: the familiar resonant-lcurve;` However, with-.the vane setzten afrequencyf highenror Alower, than the carrienirequency the signaliwill-,;-tal1z anyone1 side or ther-athen cti the vane: frequency which enables ytheisgnal tobeeapplied ktoa linear portion ot the vane,frequency-:responses curve.` 'Iheideyice also adaptsaitseli. tothestylusiform ofsrecording-whereastylus is;used= to causeathe impressionro-r lrecordingaon;v the material for re,- ceivingearpicture. In;thi's case, ifvthersoecalled fhiliianddal?recording `isfdesired,A the. coils; are connectedl series;4 aiding insteadf,` of: opposing. When `so connectedg the :electro-.magnet z poles would; always A,be ofA like: ipolarityg bothfchanging fromsnorth, to southpor vice versa,- whicnfwould result in the vane being; bodily: attracted-to, and fromsthe polesfrather; than tiltedzas previously described.-- The. si'. Il11s,-.-could be attracted-.1di'-l rectly l ,to the. vanel orconnec-ted thereto' through Jal-suitable lever 4systemgoff which. lthere' are .many known 'to those versedH in the art. Ifilater-ale recordingA is desired, it; would.` be connected` aspreviously described;wherein the vane wouldrotate.

In; cases; where f the vane isiv used` to .'reilectrI light, I' have-found itI expedientito lpolishthe uppersurface of theVA vane, and :silver` or chrome-plate same tozcause. the actuak surface to,V be xthamirror. This enables high speed operation to be .effected withoutqdangero, dislodging the mirror. I have also found it practical, however, to attach a separate mirror 'iirectly=tothevane.. 4

It `Wii1ot-1111s he Seem that 1.1111ateavnrorirledf-en improved oscillograph-galvanorneter, which .is ext1'eme1y.0mp at in, formandwhich is very sensitive yet rugged 'and economical of construction.

Furthermore,- althoughthev invention fis descr-ibediin-connectionwi-thfffacsimile transmission, i,

itiwillbesapparent that theyane may have Y-a stylus., attachedthereto which will enable\=-i1t-to befr-usedl as. a pickuphead=fior sound `recording oir-reproduction. InV this event, beca-usef it, is turnable, it adapts itself to high delity recording and reproduction. It will also be apparent to those versedin the art that the structure is useful for recording on lm, and that it is possible to use it for either variable density or variable area recording.

I am aware that numerous and extensive de-V partures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus of the class described includingv a permanent magnet formed with a bore extending in the direction of its polarization, magnetically permeable supports provided at the ends of said magnet, an electromagnet carried by oneV support and extending through said support to a position spaced from the other support and a movable vane carried by said other support in closely spaced relation to said electromagnet.

2. An oscillograph-galvanometer including a polarized permanent magnet formed with a bore extending therethrough in the direction of its polarization and opening through the opposite poles, ferromagnetic supports provided at the ends of said magnet, an electro-magnet including laminations carried by one support andrextending through said support to a position spaced from the other, coils carried by said core, and a movable vane carried by said other support in closely spaced relation to said core.

3; An apparatus of the. class-described iin-1- cluding ashousing,a'fpermanent :magnet carried by vsaid housing and` comprising. a bar.; magnet havingA its opposite.` ends,Y of opposite polarityyan opening extendinglthroughsaid magnet andthe faces of said poles, plates .for said housing. secured thereto being offerromagnetic material .andleach disposed inengagement with a pole .faceioff said magnet, Yan electromagnet comprising a plurality of U shaped. laminations rigidly andl magneticalf ly securedV to one ofsaidplates with the legs ex-- tending through said opening,:.a vane carried vby said other.,plateoppositethefends. of said legs and windings on each of said legsy adaptedto be energized by an electric current to actuate :said

vane.

4. An oscillograph-galvanometer comprisingza highflux permanent magnet, said magnet formed with va bore extending throughthe magnetzand through' the opposite' polesthereof,l supporting members of highly permeable material. disposed onthe opposite ends of saidlmagnetian electro: magnet lcarried 4by. one of -said-.,supports1.:and hav-ing spaced poles. and windings: thereon, said spaced poles extendingthrough'said bore and be.,-A ing magnetically connected toene end of said magnet and extending in spaced relationltothe other support, a vane carried by theother supportzin spaced relation to. the poles of; thegelectro': .magnet and subject to the combinedinuenceof the permanent.y and 'electro-magnetic el'ds.

5. An :oscillograph-galvanometer comprising', a highflux permanentmagnet, Vsaid magnet :formed Withfa straight bore extending entirely through the ymagnet and 'openingthroughthe opposite poles thereof, supporting .members oi highly pere` meable material, each magnetically -connected'ito anopposite pole-of saidfmagnet Vand extending throughl said bore, an electromagnet carrieda-.by oneY of said poles formed-'with soit iron lamina@ tions and providedwith a base magnetically-connected` to4 one of sai-d supportsand having f apair of spaced poles with.windings/thereon, saidspaced poles` extending through saidf. boreI in :closely spaced relation to the other support.said;i-last mentioned support being formed with an opening opposite to said bore, a soft iron vane carried by said support in spaced relation to the walls of said opening and to the poles of the electromagnet and subject to the` combined influence of the permanent and electro-magnetic fields, said supporting means for said Vane being a torsion rod of non-magnetic material carried by said support and supporting said vane for tilting movement about the axis of said rod.

6. An oscillograph-galvanometer comprising a high ux permanent magnet, said magnet formed with a straight bore extending entirely through the magnet and opening through the opposite poles thereof, supporting members of highly permeable material, each magnetically connected to an opposite pole of said magnet and extending through said bore, an electromagnet carried by one of said supports formed with soft iron laminations and provided with a base magnetically connected to one of said supports and having a pair of spaced poles with windings thereon, said spaced poles extending through said bore in closely spaced relation to the other support, said last mentioned support being formed with an enlarged opening opposite to said bore and with restricted openings extending outward from opposite sides of said enlarged opening, a soft iron Vane and a resilient support therefor, said support being disposed in said restricted openings and said vane carried by said support in spaced relation to the walls of said enlarged opening and to the poles of the electro-magnet and subject to the combined influence of the permanent and electro-magnetic elds, said supporting means for said vane being a torsion lrod of nonmagnetic material carried by said support and supporting said vane for tilting movement about the axis of said rod, and means in said restricted opening engageable with the Walls of the opening and the rod to determine the resonant frequency of the vane.

7. An oscillograph-galvanometer comprising a high ilux permanent magnet, said magnet formed with a straight bore extending entirely through the magnet and opening through the opposite poles thereof, supporting members of highly permeable material, each magnetically connected to an opposite pole of said magnet and extending through said bore, an electromagnetV carried by one of said supports formed with soft iron laminations and provided with a base magnetically connected to one of said supports and having a pair of spaced poles withwindings thereon, said spaced poles extending through said bore in closely spaced relation to the other support, said last mentioned support being formed with an enlarged opening opposite to said bore and with restricted openings extending outward from opposite sides of said enlarged opening, a soft iron vane and a resilient support therefor, said support being disposed in said restricted openings and said vane carried by said support in spaced relation to the Walls of said enlarged opening and to the poles of the electro-magnet and subject to the combined influence of the permanent and electro-magnetic fields, said supporting means for said vane being a torsion rod of nonmagnetic material carried by said support and supporting said vane for tilting movement about the axis of said rod, and means in said restricted opening engageable with the Walls of the opening and the rod to effectively shorten the length of the rod and determine the resonant frequency of the vane.

8. An oscillograph-galvanometer comprising a high ilux permanent magnet, said magnet formed With a straight bore extending entirely through the magnet and opening through the opposite poles thereof, supporting members of highly permeable material each magnetically connected to an opposite poleV of said magnet and extending over Said bore, an electro-magnet carried'by one of said coils and formed with soft iron laminations and provided with a base magnetically connected to one of said supports and having a pair of spaced poles with windings thereon, said spaced poles extending through said bore in closely spaced relation to the other support,' said last mentioned support being formed with an opening opposite to said bore and a soft iron vane carried by said support in spaced relation to the walls of said opening and' to the poles of the electro-magnet and subject to the combined inluence of the permanent and electro-'magnetic ields,said supporting means for said vane being a torsion rod of non-magnetic material carried by said support and supporting said vane for tilting movement about the axis of said rod, said rod supporting said vane in the plane of the surface of said plate and operable to return the vane to a level position with said face upon deenergization of said windings, the upper face of said vane comprising amirror for the reflection of light.

LOUIS A. THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe iile of this patent:

UNITED "STATES PATENTS Y 2,207,064 Maurer July 9, 

